[Via Satellite 10-08-2015] Maersk Tankers will install Inmarsat’s Fleet Media maritime entertainment service on 30 of its vessels, as part of a 12-month pilot program. The 30 vessels were selected as the company was already in the process of updating communications equipment onboard and identified an opportunity to also upgrade the crew’s entertainment service.

Fleet Media uses Inmarsat’s satellite connectivity to download the latest in Hollywood movies, international films, sports and TV shows to merchant vessels anywhere in the world. This gives crewmembers access to hundreds of hours of on-demand content that can be watched on a laptop, computer or an iOS or Android smart device via Wi-Fi or physical network connection.

After evaluation of the pilot, Maersk Tankers will consider if they will continue with Fleet Media and extend the service to cover the entire fleet of 80 vessels. The Fleet Media service will be powered initially by XpressLink and eventually via Fleet Xpress, the maritime broadband service of Inmarsat’s newly launched Global Xpress high-throughput network.